On the Road to Marriage Equality in Mormon Country

Members of Mormons Building Bridges march in Salt Lake City pride parade, 2012. Photo: Jay Jacobsen

Earlier this summer, Imagine Dragons lead singer Dan Reynolds gave us an up-close look at the uphill battle for LGBTQ rights in the Mormon community. In the HBO documentary Believer, the alt-rock vocalist took viewers through his personal struggle to reconcile his commitment to LGBTQ equality with the many homophobic views embedded in Mormonism, his faith since childhood.

While a rock festival can win hearts, minds are often won in real-life legal dramas. Another documentary that is out this month, Church & State, turns the cameras to an earlier fight for LGBTQ rights in Mormon country — one that took place in the courts instead of a concert venue.

Though same-sex marriage was legalized nationally in 2015 with the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, that case was preceded in the early 2010s by numerous smaller legal battles for marriage equality in state supreme courts and federal district courts.

For Arizonans, the City of Mesa might shed some light on the high hurdle Utah presented in the fight for marriage equality. A 2014 study named Mesa the most conservative of all U.S. cities with a population of 250,000 or more. Once Hohokam land, the city became a Mormon settlement in the late 1800s, and though its Mormon population has declined significantly — from 50 percent a few decades ago to 8 percent today — what it lacks in numbers it makes up for in civic engagement. Mormons, some research has found, exceed the national average in voter participation and political involvement. At the time that 2014 study was published, Mormons, in spite of their modest numbers (then about 13 percent of the population), held three of Mesa’s seven City Council seats. Statewide, it’s a similar story; in Arizona’s 2008 Republican primary, Mormons represented 11 percent of electorate, even though they were only 4 percent of the state’s overall population.

Holly Tuckett and Kendall Wilcox, who directed Church & State, knew from up-close experience the unlikely odds that were at play in Mormon country. Both have lived in Utah and been involved in gender and LGBTQ issues for much of their lives.

Wilcox, who today is openly gay, faced the difficulties many gay Mormons do during their youth, not understanding how their sexuality can coexist with their faith. He spent adolescence and early adulthood in the closet, immersing himself in faith and work to avoid confronting who he was. He took to film production and worked for Brigham Young University’s broadcasting department. It was there, while working closely with a woman he hoped might be his soulmate, that he realized he was in denial about his sexuality. After more than three years, in which the two of them traveled together extensively, they never even kissed.

As The New Yorker put it, a victory for marriage equality “was not widely anticipated” in the Amendment 3 case, known as Kitchen v. Herbert. On August 12, 2013, the state of Utah issued its formal response to the lawsuit’s filing, maintaining that marriage refers strictly to the legal union of a man and a woman — and, without clarification or specification, added that this strict definition “is rationally related to a legitimate government interest.” The response also denied that LGBTQ people are a protected class whose rights require “heightened scrutiny.” Months later, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert requested a summary judgment in the state’s favor, arguing that the interests of “responsible procreation” provide adequate grounds for denying marriage rights to same-sex couples.

In what many called a surprise ruling, however, District Judge Robert Shelby decided in favor of the plaintiffs on December 20, 2013, mincing no words when he stated, “The state’s current laws deny its gay and lesbian citizens their fundamental right to marry and, in doing so, demean the dignity of these same sex couples for no rational reason.” Shelby’s ruling would have made Utah the 18th state to recognize same-sex marriage — but the case would go into months of appeals.

The film crew behind Church & State was embedded with the plaintiffs and lawyers during the initial trial and the long process of appeals, capturing the personal stories behind a case that people on both sides of the issue, in Utah and beyond, were watching closely. The appeals would finally end on October 6, 2014 — finally delivering a victory to the plaintiffs and to marriage equality in Utah — and the following year, Obergefell v. Hodges would legalize same-sex marriage nationally.

Laws, though, tell just one part of the story. The individual journeys of the people affected by those laws, and the often rocky journey to change in the surrounding culture, can give depth and character that a legal history can’t — and can provide meaning and inspiration for the battles for justice still ahead. For those who wish to follow those journeys through the lens of the Amendment 3 case, Church & State opens in select theaters on August 10. Believer can be seen on HBO and HBO streaming services.

About Matt

Matt has a background in human services, health disparities research, and administrative support at an academic health sciences center. In addition to Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, he volunteers with Read Between the Bars, a program that sends books to people in Arizona’s prisons. In his free time, he enjoys reading, studying Spanish, and playing Scrabble.